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NBN Co moves against 'cherry-picking' TPG

Lia Timson

NBN Co will bring forward its fibre-to-the-basement roll-out to compete with TPG and other ISPs. Photo: Rob Homer

NBN's new broom sweeps hard and fast

The company tasked with building Australia's faster internet network has moved to protect its own turf when it comes to servicing apartment blocks and office buildings.

NBN Co, under newly minted chief executive Bill Morrow, announced on Tuesday that it will bring forward its fibre-to-the-basement roll-out in inner cities, in response to other carriers' plans to extend their own fibre cables to multi-dwellings.

Carriers' plan to use existing cabling within the buildings to distribute the service to each premises. A company statement listed Haymarket in Sydney, New Farm and Fortitude Valley in Brisbane and South Melbourne for connection by the middle of the year.

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Fibre-to-the-basement broadband for apartment buildings is one of the main components of the Coalition government's revised mixed-technology NBN strategy. It proposes to lay fibre-optic cables to street nodes and multi-dwelling building basements, and complete the connection with existing copper instead of fibre all the way to premises.

TPG announced in September that it would connect 500,000 apartments with the technology. Last month a Senate Committee hearing was told construction had already startedcommended.. Other carriers have signalled similar intentions, prompting NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski to say they could cherry-pick high-value customers in dense, urban areas and have an adverse effect on the company's results.

NBN Co said it was concerned such roll-outs may require building owners to agree to exclusive supply arrangements and thereby limit competition at the retail level.

''The NBN levels the playing field for Australian telecommunications and creates real and vibrant competition. We can make this statement because the NBN doesn’t sell directly to consumers and is open to all retail service providers to use on equal terms,'' NBN Co Chief Executive Officer BillMr Morrow said.

''The NBN offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to allow competition in Australian telecommunications to flourish. A clear majority of the industry is opposed [to] TPG’s plans or wants the firm to be subject to competition constraints.''

In an opinion article in IT Pro on Tuesdaytoday, Informa Telecoms & Media senior analyst Tony Brown says the announcement may force TPG to reconsider its plans. ''In future rival operators like TPG will be far less likely to try to take slices of NBN Co’s national broadband cake if they know there will be an immediate counter-punch from the company,'' Mr Brown wrote.

7 comments

Dear Bill,

The "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" was lost as soon as the organisation you now run went to the more expensive (when including ongoing maintenance costs) and far less capable fibre to the node rubbish.

Your organisation deserves to take the punch to the head that TPG appear willing to provide.

The node-based Fraudband is a joke, and invites more capable competitors to step up. Are you going to counter-punch with some of your 2Mbps upload offerings?

Commenter

Alistair

Date and time

April 15, 2014, 12:43PM

I'm happy for TPG to do that since the liberals seem hell bent on destroying the NBN purely for political reasons based on the theory of needing to saving $3 today but at a cost $20 tomorrow.If the fraudband is not going to provide what customers need or want in the future then bring on commercial competition. Isn't that what one term Tony is all about.

Commenter

Luke

Date and time

April 15, 2014, 1:21PM

Read that line again - "A clear majority of the industry is opposed [to] TPG’s plans or wants the firm to be subject to competition constraints.''

Competition constraints? What sort of crap is this? We have the ACCC there to ensure that there are NO competition constraints, so what the hell is this nonsense about TPG having to be subject to competition constraints?

It is amazing that the current regime calls for unfettered competition, yet the former Labor government made the NBN into a monopoly. This is so wrong. As far as I am concerned, any company should be free to offer any sort of broadband connection to anybody who asks for it, not be restricted to whatever NBN Co decides.

Good on TPG. This company should go to the High Court and break that very unfair NBN monopoly completely, as it is contrary to all tenets of competition.

Commenter

Ziggy

Location

Sydney

Date and time

April 15, 2014, 1:52PM

When one company is forced to provide services to all locations and others can just choose the most profitable we have issues. How do you ensure less profitable areas get adequate service without costing the tax payer?

Commenter

Andrew

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

April 15, 2014, 4:16PM

TPG isn't funded by taxpayers and the NBN was funded via infrastructure bonds, which will only pay returns from NBN Co profits. Cost to the taxpayer is zero in both cases.

Commenter

Direct

Date and time

April 16, 2014, 11:04AM

Ditto Ziggy

Commenter

Kosta

Date and time

April 15, 2014, 5:38PM

While this may not be the way to go in a properly planned network. it at leas shows Malcolm's MTM (Malxcolm's Terrible Mess) or Fraudband up for the mess it actually is. Consumers and the Electorate do not want this mess and are prepared to take up TPG's alternative to bypass as much as the MTM as is possible, otherwise it would not go ahead. Are we a Democracy whereby the politicians do our bidding or a Dictatorship where by the populace do the dictators bidding?

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